This study aims to investigate the effects of early childhood Children's Rights and Democracy Education on children's democratic behaviors. The study group consisted of a total of 53 children (28 experimental, 25 control) aged between 60-72 months, who were attending two kindergartens affiliated with the Directorate of National Education in…

Children's citizenship in early childhood education and care is the root of democracy, equity, and sustainability. In Aotearoa New Zealand, "Te Whariki" has a strong aspiration for children as competent and active citizens. Early childhood settings are sites where children may have opportunities to act as powerful citizens. Employing…

In societies where authoritarian and populist perspectives are on the rise, a focus on the concept of democracy within education can provide a meaningful space to reflect critically on, and disrupt, the status quo. In post-dictatorship Portugal, democracy has become a central symbolic concept within education policy and, in particular, Early…

Using participatory observations accompanied by video and audio recordings, this article investigates how negotiations about play scripts evolve during play in two Waldorf kindergartens. In particular, this study aims to examine how child-initiated play can contribute to the development of basic democratic skills in early childhood. The concept of…

How are religiously based eating regulations navigated in kindergarten, and how does the pedagogical context influence the children's understandings of religion and nationality? This article builds on a qualitative case study involving observations and group interviews with children in a Norwegian kindergarten. At mealtimes, some children ate…

This article explores conflicts among toddlers in kindergarten and the impact of toys in these conflicts. The author describes these interactions as part of how children develop and express their citizenship, and argues that staff members should hesitate before interfering with rules in order to prevent such conflicts. This is based on Mouffe's…

With approximately 800 schools, alternative education is a substantial part of primary education in the Netherlands. With nearly 400 schools, Dalton education is the largest form of alternative education in the Netherlands. Given the size and popularity of Dalton education, it is rather remarkable that the effects of these schools have hardly been…

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) indicates that education for global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity should be embedded at all levels of curricula. In this paper, we share findings from an analysis of curriculum documents in Victoria, Australia and Québec, Canada that identified learning related to this…

This study examines the human rights and the notion of citizenship under the prism of pedagogical science. The methodology that was followed was the experimental method. In a sample of 100 children-experimental group and control group held an intervention program with deepening axes of human rights and the concept of citizenship. The analysis of…

Including all children is something many education settings aspire to, yet the outcome of children realising their right to an inclusive education remains elusive for far too many. In this article we present the narrative of an inclusive early childhood education setting. The first author undertook an ethnographic study of the experiences of an…

Research Findings: The current study examined the use of a newly developed instrument for measuring parental literacy beliefs in a highly diverse urban Dutch sample of 35 parents, participating in a family literacy program. The instrument was used to explore a new conceptualization of parental literacy beliefs and associations between beliefs and…

This article introduces the topic of the special issue, 'Public education at the crossroads', by pointing to some of the debates and controversies surrounding the topic of public education and by framing the theme, while explaining the context and some components of the educational systems of the countries under examination -- namely the USA and…

Recent studies indicate tablets as the preferred devices of preschool children, due to portability, autonomy of use and variety of apps. There is also extensive evidence of the contributions of digital technologies in different areas of learning at these ages. The Aprender XXI project aimed to develop game-based learning apps, with content…

In this article, play is understood as activities of major importance for child-citizens and as activities that constitute various ways of participating. The researcher joined children in three early childhood education institutions in Norway in their activities and categorised their participation in their everyday life. The study depicts that, in…

Ecuador's innovative approach to social policy and human mobility is reflected in its education policies, specifically those pertaining to access to school. Under Ecuador's constitutional notion of universal citizenship, youth are not required to have previous academic records to enter the equivalent of K-12 education, regardless of their…